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(Photo by Flickr user @acousticsam, used under a Creative Commons license)

An art teacher at the Academy for College and Career Exploration wants to put a common classroom distraction to good use.

“My students love smartphone technology to the point of distraction. They are also struggling with interpersonal skills and often get involved in physical fights. I want to harness this fascination with technology and use it to teach conflict resolution through animations created on smartphones,” Elisabeth Gambino wrote in a post on DonorsChoose.org.

To that end, the teacher at the Hampden school is looking for help funding mounts and tripods for the smartphones to use in new curricula on animation.

“Once films are edited the project will culminate in a group screening, and the opportunity to reflect on possible conflict resolution patterns in a large group setting. Students will learn basic video editing, photography, animation and character design skills, but more importantly they will learn to reflect on and solve conflicts before they escalate,” Gambino wrote. “Inspired students will share the program with other schools and grade levels and create a movement that uses 21st century technology such as videography and animation to improve our community one classroom at a time.”

As of Monday, two donors had given $100 toward the project, which is open for donations through Oct. 21. Nearly $1,400 is left to raise, according to the DonorsChoose.org page.

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Tyler Waldman is a contributor for Technical.ly Baltimore. A Towson University graduate and former local editor for Patch.com, Tyler has also written and photographed for publications including the Baltimore Brew, Howard County Times and Towson Times. He lives in Charles Village.